OBITUARY

Jack Klugman dies at 90; star of TV’s ‘The Odd Couple,’ ‘Quincy’

Klugman, a three-time Emmy winner, portrayed the slovenly sportswriter Oscar Madison opposite Tony Randall on the ‘Odd Couple’ and later played a crime-solving medical examiner on ‘Quincy.’

By Dennis McLellan

Special to The Times

December 24, 2012

Jack Klugman, the three-time Emmy Award-winning actor best known for his portrayals of slovenly sportswriter Oscar Madison on TV’s “The Odd Couple” and the title role of the murder-solving medical examiner on “Quincy, M.E.,” died Monday at his home in Woodland Hills. He was 90.

OBITUARY

Charles Durning dies at 89; Tony winner also got Oscar, Emmy nods

He broke through at 49 in ‘That Championship Season.’ In film, he impressed in ‘The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas’ and on TV was costar of ‘Evening Shade.’

By Dennis McLellan

Los Angeles Times

December 25, 2012

Charles Durning, a Tony Award-winning actor whose prolific work in films and television included supporting roles in the classic comedy “Tootsie” and the TV sitcom “Evening Shade,” died Monday. He was 89.

OBITUARY

Actor Larry Hagman, notorious as ‘Dallas’ villain J.R. Ewing, dies

By Alan Peppard

Dallas Morning News

November 23, 2012

Larry Hagman, who played the conniving and mischievous J.R. Ewing on the TV show Dallas, died Friday at Medical City in Dallas, of complications from his recent battle with cancer, his family said. He was 81.

OBITUARY

Arthur Carrington, former child star who appeared twice with Bette Davis, dies at 76

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By Allan R. Ellenberger

Arthur Carrington, a one-time child actor who appeared twice with Bette Davis in That Certain Woman (1937) and The Corn is Green, died on Wednesday morning of bladder cancer.

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In the Bette Davis film, That Certain Woman (1937) co-starring Henry Fonda, Davis has a child who appears at two different ages over the course of the film. The elder child was played by Dwayne Day (his only film according to imdb), however Jackie Merrick as an infant was played by one year-old Arthur Carrington.

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Arthur Carrington is probably not a name that film historians can rattle off a bio for, however in his own small way, he contributed to film history.

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Carrington was born to Hiram and Pearl Carrington on April 20, 1936 in Willow Brook (near Compton), California. He began appearing in films through his cousin Dawn Bender, who, the same year he appeared in That Certain Woman, was cast as the infant daughter of Kay Francis in the Warner Bros. film, Confession (1937). Bender later appeared in small roles in such films as Till We Meet Again (1944), A Song to Remember (1945) and The Actress (1953). Her last film was the classic, Teenagers From Outer Space (1959). However, she is probably best known for her appearances on radio, specifically for the role of Margaret Barbour on the radio drama, One Man’s Family.

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Other family members also had bits in films. His sister Marilyn had a small role in the classic, The Grapes of Wrath (1940). Two other cousins, Bill and Carol Roush also appeared in films.

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One year-old Arthur Carrington with Bette Davis in That Certain Woman (1937)

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Carrington received the role as the infant Jackie Merrick in That Certain Woman when a casting call went out and he was placed in a line-up with several other babies. Director Edmund Goulding, walking back and forth, finally proclaimed him as the “most beautiful” of the bunch and a career was born.

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Of course Carrington remembered nothing about the film or of Bette Davis. However, his mother told him that Davis came to her and asked if she would consider letting her adopt Arthur. Mrs. Carrington, who politely turned her down, felt that Davis evidently fell in love with Arthur and thought the family was poor and could use the money. That wasn’t the case.

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There were some films he appeared in that he remembers nothing about. There are memories of meeting the Lone Ranger and getting to hold his gun. At some point he must have appeared in a Randolph Scott film because his mother had some harsh words about the actor. “She said that Randolph Scott was the biggest idiot and never knew his lines,” Carrington recalled. He didn’t know why she felt so strongly.

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A year following his stint in That Certain Woman, Carrington was set to appear in a Clark Gable film – presumably Test Pilot (1938) with Myrna Loy. Gable wanted to make sure that Arthur would feel comfortable and carried him around the set and showed him the planes. Little Art clearly embarrassed his mother at one point when the two year-old complained about Gables bad breath.

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Regardless, things didn’t quite work out when Arthur came down with Scarlet Fever and the set had to be shut down until it was determined the illness did not spread. Carrington recovered but lost the part.

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Carrington was unimpressed with his film appearances as a child. When asked about it, he remembered very little until his memory was jogged and then would get some nuggets. His mother Pearl, who died in 1998, had all the stories. “My mother was the one you should have talked to,” Carrington said. “She was very much a people person and enjoyed meeting all the actors that I worked with.”

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He recalled that his mother was not a typical “stage mother” and never pushed him to do anything. This point was proven when he appeared in one of his last films, The Corn is Green (1945), once again with Bette Davis. As an eight year-old playing one of the many students, director Irving Rapper wanted to give Arthur a line.

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So his mother took him aside and asked: “Do you think you’d like to say a line?”

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“No, I don’t think I would,” Arthur replied. So that was the end of it. He said a ‘stage mother’ would have went berserk.

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Summing up his career Carrington said: “Working as a child in films was a great opportunity if you had the talent. I just wasn’t that interested.”

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As a teenager, he sometimes tried to impress his friends with his former career. “I once told a buddy that I was in The Corn is Green with Bette Davis,” Carrington recalled. “Evidently he didn’t believe me or wasn’t that impressed because he just rolled his eyes and said, ‘Yeah the corn sure is green.’”

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Art Carrington with his wife Willeta and their dog Shotsie

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Carrington worked as a Long Beach postal worker and in his retirement, spent much of his time traveling across the country with his wife, visiting celebrity graves. Carrington is survived by his wife Willeta, his two children, Debra and Arthur, Jr. and two grandchildren.

OBITUARY

Alex Karras dies at 77; NFL star turned actor

Alex Karras, a four-time All-Pro defensive tackle with the Detroit Lions, had memorable roles on TV’s ‘Webster’ and in the Mel Brooks film ‘Blazing Saddles.’

By Sam Farmer

Los Angeles Times

October 10, 2012

Alex Karras, an All-Pro defensive tackle for the Detroit Lions who later worked as a Monday Night Football co-host and parlayed his hulking strength into a Hollywood acting career, died Wednesday. He was 77.

OBITUARY

Turhan Bey, movie actor known as ‘Turkish Delight,’ dies at 90

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Turhan Bey, 90, an actor whose exotic good looks earned him the nickname of Turkish Delight in films with Errol Flynn and Katharine Hepburn before he left Hollywood for a quieter life in Vienna, died Sept. 30 in the Austrian capital after a long struggle with Parkinson’s disease. His friend Marita Ruiter, who exhibited Bey’s photos in her Luxembourg gallery, confirmed his death, according to the Austria Press Agency.

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Born in Austria as Gilbert Selahettin Schultavey, the son of a Turkish diplomat, Bey assumed his stage name shortly after moving to the United States from Vienna with his Jewish Czech mother to escape the Nazis and being discovered by talent scouts from Warner Bros. studios.

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Bey was celebrated for supporting roles alongside Flynn, Hepburn, John Wayne, Peter Lorre and other film greats of the 1940s. His popular name of Turkish Delight was a reference to his suave good looks, which made him an ideal partner to exotics like Maria Montez in escapist Technicolor adventure fantasies set in faraway places.

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He starred or had major roles in films such as A Night in Paradise, Out of the Blue and The Amazing Mr. X until the popularity of the genre faded in the 1950s.

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Moving back to Vienna, he made living as a photographer and occasional stage director, again returning after a brief film and television comeback in the 1990s that earned him an Emmy nomination for his performance as the venerable Turval in the Babylon 5 space fantasy TV series.

OBITUARY

Andy Williams, ‘Moon River’ singer, dies at 84

Andy Williams parlayed his silky voice and casual style into a long career as a hit recording artist, star of an Emmy-winning TV show and live performer.

By Dennis McLellan

Los Angeles Times
September 26, 2012

Andy Williams, whose soothing baritone and relaxed performing style made him one of America’s top pop vocalists and a popular TV variety-show host in the 1960s when he recorded hits such as “Moon River” and “Days of Wine and Roses,” has died. He was 84.

OBITUARY

Michael Clarke Duncan dies; Oscar-nominated ‘Green Mile’ star was 54

Michael Clarke Duncan was a gas company ditch digger in Chicago who followed his dream of acting to Hollywood. The massively built actor played a gentle death row inmate in the 1999 prison drama.

By Dennis McLellan

Los Angeles Times

September 3, 2012

Michael Clarke Duncan, the tall and massively built actor with the shaved head and deep voice who received an Academy Award nomination for his moving portrayal of a gentle death row inmate in the 1999 prison drama “The Green Mile,” died Monday. He was 54.

OBITUARY

Phyllis Diller, outlandish comedian, dies at 95

Phyllis Diller, famed for her self-deprecating jokes, wild wardrobe and overstated laugh, made her comedy club debut at 37 and enjoyed a long career in clubs, movies and TV.

By Dennis McLellan

Los Angeles Times

August 20, 2012

Phyllis Diller, the zany housewife-turned-stand-up comic with the electrified hairdo, outlandish wardrobe and a barrage of self-deprecating jokes punctuated by her trademark laugh, has died. She was 95.

OBITUARY

‘Top Gun’ director Tony Scott jumps to his death from L.A. bridge

Tony Scott, a director known for ‘Top Gun’ and a producer, jumped off the Vincent Thomas Bridge in San Pedro without hesitation, witnesses tell police.

By Andrew Blankstein and John Horn

Los Angeles Times

August 19, 2012

“Top Gun” director Tony Scott jumped to his death from the Vincent Thomas Bridge in San Pedro on Sunday afternoon. He was 68. His body was pulled out of the water by Los Angeles Port Police, who were the first on the scene.